Why VMware Is So Important To EMC

Joe Tucci has been going around saying that EMC is going to become a software company, and with the acquisitions of Legato and Documentum, he meant what he said. But now, with the acquisition of VMware, the storage vendor has a chance to really deliver on this software vision, and in the process could give Microsoft some serious competition. And the new acquisition puts the other two in perspective and could be the biggest news -- and market opportunity -- yet for EMC.

Microsoft purchased last year from Connectix Virtual PC, software that sets up virtual machines on Windows and Macintoshes. But Virtual PC -- even its still-undelivered Virtual Server version -- is decidedly downmarket from VMware and more focused on running desktops than servers.

Why is VMware so important? Several reasons. First, it puts EMC clearly in the server room, sitting on those same raised floors and overly air-conditioned spaces that its huge racks of disk drives live. But it also delivers something to put on those big disk drives, and uses the SAN and NAS equipment in new and interesting ways.

Second, virtualizing servers is a very big way to consolidate resources, and at the heart of what EMC offers its customers is to expand IT operations without having to expand the people that care and feed the machines. By running multiple application servers on a single physical array, IT departments can cut down on power requirements, maintenance, configuration and backup tasks.

Thirdly, the whole server-virtualization area can generate huge files as part of the application. The way VMware works is to create a single physical data file that contains the entire virtual machine's memory, virtual disk drive and settings. This file can be gigabytes and can be mostly empty space initially, until the virtual server's virtual disk fills up with stuff. This means more disk space to save each virtual machine, and more disk space translates into more disk arrays and cabinets, feeding back on EMC's core business.

Certainly buying a document-management vendor (Documentum) and a backup software vendor (Legato) are very relevant to EMC's storage business. But backup software is pretty much a one-time purchase: Once an enterprise figures out its backup strategy, it is just going through the motions -- and hopefully doing it on a regular basis -- but not purchasing much in the way of new software. Same is true for document management: Once you have your system in place, you sit back and watch as the many minions create and store and hopefully retrieve their files from your system. With virtual servers, enterprises have the opportunity to build something new and make huge jumps in their demand for storage and equipment.

Meanwhile, back at the Redmond ranch, Microsoft is still in beta on the Virtual Server product. Maybe this acquisition will kick-start its release of the software. In the meantime, EMC has got themselves a gem of a company.